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Capping nearly a decade of debate, a state panel of scientists Wednesday decided that diesel exhaust poses a serious cancer danger and urged state environmental officials to take steps to protect public health.
The implications of the long-awaited decision are great, not only in terms of people's health, but also the economy. State environmental officials must wrestle with how to reduce the hazards posed by diesel-powered vehicles, which are so commonplace that they transport virtually every product that Californians consume.
Because of that, how to handle diesel pollution is now among the biggest issues facing the California Air Resources Board, which must start deciding this summer how to respond to the scientists' recommendation.
The scientists estimated that 14,850 Californians now living could eventually die of disease caused by diesel exhaust. Over a lifetime, exposure to diesel pollution will cause 450 lung cancers among every 1 million people exposed, the scientists estimate, making diesel exhaust a highly potent carcinogen.
Residents of the Los Angeles Basin are breathing the worst diesel fumes in the state, about 60% more than the average level the scientists used to estimate the cancer risk.
UCLA toxicologist John Froines, who chairs the group of nine scientists, called Wednesday's decision the "most important" public health issue that the scientific panel has addressed since it was formed by the Legislature 15 years ago.
"If you believe these risk numbers at all, diesel has a significant impact on the health of Californians," Froines said. "This {exhaust} is without a doubt the most toxic set of constituents...